The Orpheum Theater is a theater located in

Omaha, Nebraska Omaha ( ) is the List of cities in Nebraska, most populous city in the U.S. state of Nebraska. It is located in the Midwestern United States along the Missouri River, about north of the mouth of the Platte River. The nation's List of United S ...

. The theater hosts programs best served by a more theatrical setting, including the Omaha Performing Arts Broadway Season, presented with

Broadway Across America Broadway Across America (BAA) is a presenter and producer of live theatrical events in the United States and Canada since 1982. It is currently owned by the John Gore Organization (formerly Key Brand Entertainment), which purchased it from Live ...

, and

Opera Omaha Opera Omaha is a major regional opera company in Omaha, Nebraska. Founded in 1958, the professional company is widely known for the International Fall Festival events it held in the 1980s and 1990s, which garnered international attention and served ...

's season. The theatre is listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

. The main auditorium is a proscenium theater known as "Slosburg Hall". The theater has a

theatre organ A theatre organ (also known as a theater organ, or, especially in the United Kingdom, a cinema organ) is a type of pipe organ developed to accompany silent films from the 1900s to the 1920s. Theatre organs have horseshoe-shaped arrangements of ...

, made by

Wurlitzer The Rudolph Wurlitzer Company, usually referred to as simply Wurlitzer, is an American company started in Cincinnati in 1853 by German immigrant (Franz) Rudolph Wurlitzer. The company initially imported stringed, woodwind and brass instruments ...

History

The current site of the building was previously home to the "Creighton Theater". John A. McShane organized a stock company to build the original theater in 1895. The architects for the original theater were Fisher & Lawrie and the general contractors were

Rocheford & Gould Rocheford & Gould were brickworks, brick manufacturers and General contractor, construction contractors in early Omaha, Nebraska. The firm built numerous brick structures during Omaha's transition from the wooden buildings of Nebraska's territor ...

. Paxton and Vierling installed the iron curtain that weighed 11 tons. The theater was named after

John A. Creighton John Andrew Creighton (October 15, 1831 – February 7, 1907) was a Founding figures of Omaha, Nebraska, pioneer businessman and philanthropist in Omaha, Nebraska who founded Creighton University. The younger brother of Edward Creighton, John was ...

, a local philanthropist, and a large portrait of Count Creighton decorated the proscenium arch. The Creighton Theater was eventually added to the

Orpheum Circuit The Orpheum Circuit was a chain of vaudeville and movie theaters. It was founded in 1886, and operated through 1927 when it was merged into the Keith-Albee-Orpheum corporation, ultimately becoming part of the Radio-Keith-Orpheum (RKO) corporatio ...

, which by 1900 had expanded to nine western cities: Omaha, Chicago, Kansas City, New Orleans, Denver, Salt Lake City, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Sacramento. The reference to Creighton was eventually dropped from the theater's name. By 1926 a new, larger theater was in the works. The current space was built in 1926 on the same site as the original Creighton Theater, but with its entrance situated on 16th Street. When

vaudeville Vaudeville (; ) is a theatrical genre of variety entertainment which began in France in the middle of the 19th century. A ''vaudeville'' was originally a comedy without psychological or moral intentions, based on a comical situation: a drama ...

acts were no longer in fashion, a screen was added and the theater operated as a downtown movie theater from the 1940s through 1971. A year later, the

Knights of Ak-Sar-Ben The Knights of Ak-Sar-Ben Foundation is a 501(c)(3) civic and philanthropic organization in Omaha, Nebraska. History The Knights of Ak-Sar-Ben was established in 1895 by the Omaha Commercial Club, the predecessor to the Greater Omaha Chamber of C ...

purchased the building and began a $2 million renovation and became a performing arts venue once again. In 2002, Omaha Performing Arts Society assumed management of the Orpheum Theater from the City of Omaha, and the Orpheum underwent a $10 million renovation, making it capable of accommodating larger and more complicated scenery and sets. The Skylink was added in 2004 for increased convenience and accessibility to the theater. The 200-foot-long elevated, enclosed and climate-controlled walkway connects the OPPD parking garage to the venue. In October 2013, the steel-letter marquee that was installed with the 1975 renovation was replaced with a digital electronic display board. The signage upgrades also included the installation of LED posters in the theater's lobby. During the summer of 2017, the theatre received a $3 million update, including paint, new carpeting and a refresh of seating.

External links

History of the theaterOmaha Orpheum InteriorPostcard Orpheum Theater InteriorOriginal Omaha Orpheum Theater Postcard
* ttp://memories.nebraska.gov/cdm/search/searchterm/Orpheum%20Theatre%20(Omaha%2C%20Neb.)/field/all/mode/exact/conn/and/order/title Historic Images of the Orpheum- Nebraska Memories

References

{{Authority control History of Downtown Omaha, Nebraska Movie palaces Theatres in Omaha, Nebraska Music venues in Omaha, Nebraska Cinemas and movie theaters in Omaha, Nebraska National Register of Historic Places in Omaha, Nebraska Theatres on the National Register of Historic Places in Nebraska Theatres completed in 1927 1927 establishments in Nebraska

History

See also

External links

References